Obama lashes out at Pak military for ties to terrorists

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Thursday lit into Pakistan, virtually accusing the country's all-powerful military of consorting with terrorists, of manufacting threats from India, and creating an environment that threatened the whole region, including the people of Pakistan. At a short-notice White House press conference, Obama prefaced his stinging critique of Pakistan's regional policy by acknowledging the country's importance and some cooperation it has provided so far. But he did not mince words in speaking about the country's two-faced military who are now regarded in some circles as terrorists in uniform. ''There is no doubt that there's some connections the Pakistani military and intelligence services have with certain individuals that we find troubling," Obama said, endorsing the view of just-retired joint chiefs of staff Mike Mullen. "I think they (Pakistan) have hedged their bets in terms of what Afghanistan would look like and part of hedging their bets is having interactions with some of the unsavory characters who they think might end up regaining power in Afghanistan after coalition forces have left," he added. Pakistan has variously denied, and sometimes acknowledged and justified, ties with terrorist groups, which they believe further the country's strategic interest in Afghanistan in the event of U.S pull out. Pakistani analysts also believe the military is doing this to prevent India from wielding any influence in Afghanistan, where a broad-based dispensation excluding the Taliban is more inclined towards New Delhi. But Obama appeared to rubbish the idea, suggesting Pakistan was ill-served by this policy. Pakistan, he said, saw its "security interest threatened by an independent Afghanistan, in part because they think it will ally itself to India and Pakistan still considers India their mortal enemy,'' and "Part of what we want to do is actually get Pakistan to realize that a peaceful approach towards India would be in everybody's interests." Pakistan itself faced pressing problems such as poverty, illiteracy, a lack of development and weak civil institutions, "and in that environment, you've seen extremism grow, you've seen militancy that threatens the Pakistani government and Pakistani people as well.'' "Trying to get that reorientation is something we continue to work on,'' Obama said, admitting, ''It is not easy.''